1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet textile printing method wherein an ink composition is printed on a woven fabric by ink jet recording.
2. Background Art
Ink jet recording is a printing method wherein droplets. of an ink composition are ejected and deposited onto a recording medium such as paper. This method can realize an image having high resolution and quality at a high speed with a relatively inexpensive apparatus.
The application of the ink jet printing to textile permits various images to be easily formed on fabrics. This is particularly advantageous in the formation of images having excellent gradation, multicolor rendering and other properties. Further, unlike the conventional textile printing process, there is substantially no excessive ink composition. Therefore, the application of the ink jet printing to textile is advantageous from the viewpoint of the environmental protection.
Matters, which are important to the application of the ink jet recording to textile, include that the ink composition can realize highly color developed printed image; the ink composition can have viscosity low enough to be suitable for ink jet recording; the ink composition can favorably match a pretreatment agent for woven fabrics to realize good images; the drying of printed images is relatively fast and, for example, any offset does not occur at the time of winding of the woven fabric after textile printing; and the ink composition can be stored for a long period of time.
Ink jet textile printing methods are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 186727/1993, 239391/1993, 145569/1994, 264018/1994, and 173780/1995.
The present inventor has now found ink compositions that can satisfy, on a high level, various properties required of ink compositions for ink jet textile printing and can realize good printed images.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide ink compositions, which can satisfy, on a high level, various properties required of ink compositions for ink jet textile printing and can realize good printed images, and ink jet textile printing methods using the same.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink composition for ink jet textile printing, comprising at least a reactive dye, a surfactant, water, and at least one compound represented by formula (I), said ink composition having a viscosity of not more than 8.0 m.Pa.s (20xc2x0 C.): 
wherein
EP1, EP2, and EP3 each independently represent an ethyleneoxy or propyleneoxy group; and
l, m, and n independently represent 0 or a natural number of not less than 1, provided that at least one of l, m, and n represent 1 or more and the average of 1+m+n in the whole compound represented by formula (I) contained in the ink composition is 1 to 30.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink composition for ink jet textile printing, comprising at least a monochlorotriazinyl derivative dye, an organic solvent having a boiling point of 150xc2x0 C. or above at atmospheric pressure, a nonionic surfactant, and water, said ink composition having a pH value of 5.5 to 9.0 and a viscosity of not more than 8.0 m.Pa.s (20xc2x0 C.).
The ink compositions according to the present invention can satisfy, on a high level, various properties required of ink compositions for ink jet textile printing. For example, the ink compositions according to the present invention can realize highly color developed printed images in textile printing. Further, the ink compositions according to the present invention are highly compatible with ink jet recording, especially a piezoelectric type ink jet recording head. Moreover, the ink compositions according to the present invention have an additional advantage that printed images are relatively fast drying. In the present invention, drying associated with the ink composition refers to the evaporation of volatile components in the ink composition to fix the solid component onto woven fabrics, and, in addition, connotes that, for example, the printed image becomes dry to the touch as a result of the penetration of the ink composition into woven fabrics. Moreover, the ink compositions according to the present invention have good long-term storage stability.